PledgeMusic provides fans and artists the opportunity to work together to make new records and raise money for charity. By combining new social networking technology, old school music biz know how and an irresistible menu of exclusive incentives, fans can visit the site to hear great new music, enjoy and share unique experiences with the artists they love and actively participate in the release process.

This will launch toward the end of April 2011!! We are fine-tuning the campaign as we speak but it will look roughly like this….

OCS has been mad with shows lately but over the last couple years, I’ve penned some personal material of my own. This doesn’t mean the end of the band at all, in fact we’ll be back with a full Ocean Colour Scene album very soon, however I just fancied releasing some music of mine own for a change to see what you all thought.

Your pledges for the items and experiences listed here will go towards making the album bigger and better, so in way, we will be making this album together. For your faith in me, I will be posting private updates, that only pledgers will have access to…. videos, mp3’s, photos, blogs… a private diary of the entire album process all for FREE to those who get involved!

The culmination of this process is the fulfillment of all tour pledges, and the release of the album….which you will receive before anyone else!

I will also be donating a portion of the proceeds from the campaign to Strummerville, the Joe Strummer Foundation for New Music for the amazing work they do helping the next generation of aspiring young musicians.

I’ve been blessed by your support over the years and hope this unusual approach rewards you in a much more appropriate way with exciting ideas and unique extra content.

2011/05/30

The Moons

The Moons is the new project from Andy Crofts, better known as Paul Weller's keyboard player. Their album, a 14 tracker, was recorded over three weeks at Edwyn Collins’ West Heath Yard studio in London with Edwyn and Seb Lewsley producing and it is signature Moons, defined by strong songwriting, delicious harmonising and tight musicianship. Influences range from Joe Meek and Syd Barrett to The Zombies and the high points are many, including the startling Jennifer Sits Alone, the garage nugget Double Vision Love, a frenzied reworking of live favourite It's Taking Over and the duet Something Soon with Paul Weller. Their many fans include Rod Argent of the Zombies, Ian Brodie of the Lightning Seeds, Nick Power of The Coral, Dave Davies of the Kinks and of course the Modfather himself!

Sussex based musician & author Simon Wells is celebrating the release of his ﬁrst solo album on 208 Records in June 2011. Although best known as an author, with books such as ʻYour Face Here-British Cult Movies Since The 1960ʼsʼ, & the acclaimed Charles Manson biography ʻComing Down Fastʼ, his album entitled ʻSometimes In The Morningʼ, is pastoral, melodic, quirky & reﬂective of the English countryside where it was written & recorded. Featuring 13 tracks, with acoustic guitar & acoustic rhythm section, Simonʼs own compositions have the feel of The Pentangle, Nick Drake & early Trafﬁc, making this album an instant entry into the classic work of that genre. With sleeve notes by Paolo Hewitt, this is one of the most exciting additions to the largely overlooked library of English pastoral folk for decades.

“A very impressive new album” - Gary Crowley.

Sleeve notes from Paolo Hewitt...

Watch Godʼs breath at dawn slowly invade the Glastonbury hills and seep into Albionʼs earth. I talk of this because I believe the music and the poetry on this Long Player also belongs to Albion, not the Albion of the City and the money lenders, not the Albion propelled by the greed and cheapness that bemuses Harry Greaves so much, but a music hewn from the Albion that seeks beauty and meaning and love and art and wisdom, an Albion of harmony grove, of sunrises that colour our soul and vivid ﬁelds we trampoline upon and forests we go to for succour, where the water runs deep and rich and the wind brings us the true Word. An Albion of truth and compassion, an Albion of the soul, an Albion, in other words, for all the world. And knowing you, my fearless fellow traveller, it will remain ever so.

2011/05/23

The characters are not broken yet, they're borderline, not really completely down and they look very real...

(Amazon notice) These hard-hitting, deeply-felt stories follow straight arrows and outlaws, have-it-alls and outcasts, as they take stock of their lives and missteps and struggle to rise above their turbulent pasts. A salesman re-examines his tenuous relationship with his sister after she is brutally attacked. A house painter plans a new life for his family as he plots his last bank robbery. A drifter gets a chance at love when he delivers news of a barfly's death to the man's estranged daughter. A dissatisfied yuppie is oddly envious of his ex-con brother as they celebrate their first Christmas together. Excellent book, available in French too.

2011/05/20

Being hard to pigeon hole is something that this band thrive upon. For the melting pot of funk, reggae, blues and down right rock'n'roll, is what differentiates Selective Service from the rest of the pack.

Forming in 2009, the band spent their first 18 months together pounding the highways of their native Scotland, taking in new followers at every port of call. They supported some great acts along the way, including Sons & Daughters, The Jim Jones Revue, The Heavy and The Hours, earning well deserved plaudits from all of these peers. 2009 ended with a triumphant set at George Square during Winterfest to over a thousand hardy souls braving the freezing temperatures.

2010 saw the touring schedule worked to the max, with the band playing over 100 gigs and cutting their first disc at La Chunky Studios. Released in November 2010, the eponymous debut EP has all but sold out (physically speaking) and the launch night was so over subscribed that between 30 and 40 disappointed fans could not get in to the event.

Not the sort of band to rest on their laurels, Selective Service ended 2010 by re-entering the studio equipped with new cuts which had been road tested on the previous tour. This next effort, entitled You Best Believe will be released in April 2011. The band have just shot their 2nd music video and a host of promotional activities are planned, most notably an instore performance at Pretty Green's Glasgow boutique. Kasabian tour DJ Dan Martin is also booked to play at the EP launch night, with Serge Pizzorno having given his personal approval.

2011/05/19

Thanx to MikeC, one of my coblogger. Thanx for support and friendship, mate. ;)

Nulle part ailleurs, Canal + (it means "Nowhere Else"). He also came a long time ago to play "Above the clouds" and the TV man gave him a huge collection of rythm and blues cds. He noded and was very grumpy about it!

I think it's probably time to slow down the blog after 1935 messages and many many many time spent, scanned articles, translations, etc. It doesn't seem appreciated by the wider community anymore, no more comments, discussion... I know I've been a bit compulsive but it's no more necessary.

The forum is great for our Paul Weller "obsession" and it's full of nice people. I also have to say I feel (and I'm not alone) my idea has been completely taken and marketed by other people without a word, people who think they're real mods with a true etho. They're not. I'm sad for them, narrow minded and to steal an idea without asking is pretty ugly. I will probably try to enjoy my life and I've made excellent friends here I will enjoy more too. No bitterness at all, four years is a long time and I had fantastic moments. Will keep on on a very different rythm, maybe a week's big post. Become a member and you'll know any news. It's a pause.

Tickets for the Andy Lewis live show at The Buffalo Bar on May 26th are selling fast. If you want to come to the show and haven't got a ticket yet, please go there to make sure you get yours in advance. Rumours of extra-special guests may well turn out to be true!

Facebook events pages exist here and here if you do the Facebook thing. Further information can be found on Twitter by following @andylewisuk .

Andy's mini-album 41 has been selling very well on download from iTunes, and is now available in the shops on CD and limited edition double 7" vinyl. Visit HMV search for Andy Lewis. There, you can also pre-order the next singleA Good Soul In The Good Times (feat Jess Roberts) which will be released by Acid Jazz records as a 7" and Digital Download on June 20th.

E bay Acid Jazz shop is where to find the last remaining copies of the vinyl albums Billion Pound Project and You Should Be Hearing Something Now! Stocks of both these records are down to single figures only, and when they're gone, they're gone! Also rapidly dwindling are stocks of the 7" releases of Are You Trying To Be Lonely? (feat. Paul Weller), Laughter Ever After (feat. Bettye Lavette) and the summer classic (Love Is) Alive In My Heart (feat. Keni Burke)...

2011/05/16

Sorting through old vinyl albums recently I was struck by the cover image on the Jam's seminal 1979 release Setting Sons.

Uncredited on the album sleeve, the picture is of a small bronze sculpture called The St John's Ambulance Bearers, cast by Benjamin Clemens in 1919. Although part of the permanent collection in London's Imperial War Museum, it has not been on public display for 12 years. In fact, since last autumn the piece has been moved into long-term storage because the museum's art store – where it was available to view by appointment only – is undergoing renovation work.

Miss Sharon Jones is on new Booker T's LP on Representing Memphis number.

Review

As long as there’s been soul music there’s been Booker T. Jones. A session saxophonist on Stax Records while it was still Satellite Records at age 16 in 1960, then putting together The MGs, who went on to become Stax’s house band, defining the label’s almost syncopated sound. With this set, long-term devotees will be pleased to find him back sitting at the Hammond, after picking up the guitar for his Grammy Award-winning album of 2009, Potato Hole. Indeed, The Road From Memphis turns out to be something of a circular route as, following that LP’s southern blues/rock bent – Drive-By Truckers were the backing band – he’s returned to a classic Stax-style groove. Even the contemporary twists aren’t exactly forward-looking: the album’s produced by The Roots’ ?uestlove and Rob Schnapf (Beck), it’s backed by The Roots and features Sharon Jones and Matt Berninger (The National) on vocals.

The mainstay of The Road From Memphis is its simplicity. After 50-odd years Jones knows what’s required and builds uncomplicated rhythms that set a chopping guitar on chugging drums and bass to provide a solid platform for pretty much anything he wants to do. This works best with his Hammond striding confidently on top, stopping for the all the twiddles and flourishes you’d expect, while playing of a counterpoint to the guitar or drums. Crazy, Walking Papers, The Hive and Rent Party are such sweet examples of Booker T.’s craft – it’s as if mod never went away. Everything Is Everything, The Vamp and Harlem House are so supremely (70s) funky – Dennis Coffey features on guitar – you start checking the listings for the blaxploitation film they must have come from. The vocal tracks are, mostly, no less sure of themselves and cleverly arranged so the playing never really takes a back seat. Although Yim Yames (My Morning Jacket) never quite gets to grips with what he has to do, Sharon Jones’s big voice gives a storming city tour in Down In Memphis, Lou Reed an inspired choice for The Bronx, and Booker T. himself gives a sterling performance on Down In Memphis.

The Road From Memphis hasn’t got any of the surprise factor of Potato Hole; in fact, it’s more like reacquainting yourself with an old friend. But it’s a work of such high quality it doesn’t really matter it’s nothing new.

208 RECORDS PRESENTS - THE MASTER COLONY.Let Us Have Our Way / Take Me Away.The new double A side single out on May 16th 2011. Taken from the LP Time For Change.Also includes the previously unreleased track Fools Paradise.

2011/05/14

Hi, Was watching Steve White's solo on Pickin'up sticks and thought to Cozy Cole's drumming style Opera, a jazz LP he released in 1962 (I think) from the French Opera, Carmen, by Georges Bizet and also to Andrea Vadrucci's drumming...

2011/05/13

ISSUE 10 DOUBLE BREASTED After a few months off from the fanzine, we're busy working on issue 10 which will be off to the printer soon and on sale from early June.

We're doing two issues this year with issue 11 out on 1 December. This issue is brimming with all your old favourites, plus we've a cd giveaway with live tracks from Scottish beatsters, The Laynes, recorded on 26 Feburary 2011 at Ivory Blacks, Glasgow when they supported Secret Affair.*** If you'd like to order in advance for issues 10 and 11 the price is £5.50 UK, £7.50 Europe and £8.70 Rest of the World. Or buy them individually for £3/£4/£4.60. Payment can be made by paypal to doublebreasted@hotmail.com (send as gift) or if you'd rather pay by cheque or postal order, contact me and i'll let you know where to send it. I've had to give up the PO Box as the annual fee has increased dramatically.

***due to the increased postal charges for adding a cd in with a magazine to send outwith the UK, the CD will only be available to UK customers. However, should overseas readers wish the cd, the extra postage is 40p for Europe and £1.50 for Rest of the World.

A LITTLE MIXED UP: LONDON 18 JUNE

Not long to go now until our alldayer at London's Fiddlers Elbow. We had a change of lineup due to the withdrawal of RT3 and The Nite Tones who had other commitments they needed to fulfill, however, we're very excited that The Galileo 7 and Groovy Uncle are joining us and playing alongside The Mynd Set, Aunt Nelly, The Laynes and Modus, plus djs playing dancefloor friendly music from the 60s through to the present day.

Tickets are onsale priced £15 and you can buy them by contacting me here, visiting the Fiddlers Elbow (call first to make sure there's still some: 0207 485 3269) or online HERE. when you order, you're given a reference number which you quote when you arrive at the venue.

A LITTLE MIXED UP: GLASGOW 26 NOVEMBER 2011

We've been busy planning our annual Glasgow alldayer, which is now in its third year. Taking place at Ivory Blacks, Oswald Street from 6pm - 3am on the bill are: Berry Tweed and The Chasers, Modus, Les Bof, The Amphetameanies, The Laynes, The Privates and travelling up from London The Mynd Set. Plus DJs Colin Baillie, Scott Cardwell, Ally Maclean and Craig Reece. Tickets will be on sale in June from Tickets Scotland 0141 204 5151.

TWO CAT RECORDS NEWS

Coming up very soon is The Moons gigs taking place on: Thursday 9 June at Mondo, Scott Street Perth 8pm - 1am Tickets priced £9 from Concorde Music 01738 621818 and online Support is from Glasgow's Figure 5, plus Robbie Hill from Perth who is a cracking blues guitarist.

Friday 10 June at Ivory Blacks, Oswald Street Glasgow. 7pm - 3am Tickets priced £12 from Tickets Scotland 0141 204 5151 and online Support is Figure 5, plus DJs Colin Baillie and Scott Cardwell from Motherwell's Melting Pot are joined by special guest DJ Andy Crofts for the aftershow party which is continuing in Ivory Blacks. Admission to the aftershow is £5 from 11pm. Visit for more information on the band and to hear their amazing tunes.

The Laynes: The Laynes released their debut album It's For You on Two Cat Records back in November 2009 and they haven't sat still since. They've been gigging relentlessly throughout the UK, and you may remember they were the support to The Chords, Purple Hearts and Secret Affair when we promoted their gigs in Glasgow. Their debut '45 will be released on 4 July on Two Cat Records, two fantastic tunes which they've played live and we'll be announcing them very soon. In the meantime keep up to date with The Laynes here

Pope: Chris Pope formerly of The Chords is coming up to Glasgow on Saturday 17 September, with two familiar faces - Mic Stoner on bass and Ken Cooper on drums. I saw the band when I was in London last month, and I was very impressed. It's taking place at Ivory Blacks, Oswald Street, Glasgow 7pm - 3am. Tickets on sale now priced £12 from Tickets Scotland. Support is... The Laynes, and Colin Baillie, Kev McGachy and Craig Ball will be djing.